Generally, pilotless aircraft control and monitoring missions may be of various kinds. Notably, they may relate to the monitoring of the takeoff or landing phases or else the monitoring of the proper following of the flight plan during the navigation of such an aircraft.
An operator usually has a display system at his disposal, allowing him to monitor the behaviour of the aircraft and to take decisions, for example a mission cancellation decision, if need be.
In the course of the takeoff or landing phases, the operator must be reactive. In the event of incidents, the mission must be rapidly interrupted so as to provide for the safety, firstly, of the onboard personnel in proximity to the landing zone and secondly, of the apparatus itself.
When the landing or takeoff zone is moving, a drawback resides in the difficulty of controlling the manoeuvres of a remotely controlled aircraft while guaranteeing maximum safety in the vicinity.
Typically, when the landing takes place on a ship, the swell, the wind and the relative vertical motions of the aircraft and of the ship may comprise risks in the execution of the manoeuvres.
The vertical speed of the aircraft, during a deck landing for example, must always be compared and measured in relation to the vertical speed of the ship.
A current solution consists in displaying the two items of information previously introduced: the absolute vertical speed of the aircraft and the absolute vertical speed of the ship in two distinct indicators.
An embodiment of the prior art proposes two graduated displays which represent vertical speed gauges, respectively for an aircraft and for a ship.
FIG. 1 represents such gauges which allow an operator to monitor the landing of an aircraft on the deck of the ship.
A first gauge makes it possible to indicate the vertical speed V1 of the aircraft during a deck-landing phase or deck-landing preparation phase. A second gauge makes it possible to indicate the vertical speed V2 of the ship.
The speeds of the aircraft and of the ship are represented in two indicators, formed by the gauges, independently of one another. This solution allows an operator to follow the variations of the various speeds. However this solution possesses drawbacks.
First of all, the items of information are represented in different indicators, they are therefore difficult to monitor simultaneously.
Thereafter this solution proposes only independent monitoring of the two speeds. It does not allow the operator to appraise the impacts of the dynamics of the ship on the aircraft, especially at the time of the deck-landing when the aircraft is approaching the deck where the least error can constitute an imminent danger. The two indicators become a drawback in respect of monitoring since the operator's attention must be focused on two gauges.
Indeed, during the takeoff and deck-landing phases, the aircraft's movements do not take place within a fixed reference frame but within a moving reference frame. The combination of the two speeds therefore influences the decision that must be taken by the operator. This dependency is not currently represented. This may therefore result in the operator taking a decision too late.